1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to skates, and more particularly, to ice skates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ice skates comprise a running blade attached to the sole of an especially adapted boot. Conventionally, the boot is made of leather and is laced from the upper of the boot in order to provide a firm fit about the wearer's foot and ankle. The boot is best reinforced and often has hard plastic protective portions at the toe area and in the heel area to protect the wearer's foot and ankle, particularly in the sport of ice hockey.
In recent years an ice hockey skate has been developed wherein the complete boot was molded from a rigid plastics material. However, although the plastic skate boot has met with acceptance, it has only slight advantages over the conventional leather boot. It offers protection since the shell is rigid, and it provides a firmer support for the ankle. However, the boot must still be laboriously laced, and the firmness of the boot on the wearer's foot depends on the strength and ability of the person lacing the boot to find a proper tension in the lacing which, while maintaining the boot firm on one's foot, would not cut the circulation of blood to the foot. One of the disadvantages in a conventional ice skate boot, be it of plastics material or leather, is that the lacing procedure provides for pressure against the foot from the upper thereby pressing the heel towards the heel of the boot and moving the fore foot portion away from the toe area of the upper. The upper of a boot, however, has a natural wedge shape and the pressure being placed on the upper portion of the foot moves the foot away from this natural wedging action.
Anyone who has ever put on a pair of ice skates knows the trouble and care that must be taken in the proper lacing of the boot in order to get the ultimate skate control. Only the experienced skater can master the proper lacing technique and amount of tension.